FC Gold Pride dominates but Marta gives the Sol the winning goal + Player Ratings + Video Interviews

The match between FC Gold Pride and the Los Angeles Sol had been foreseen (by me) as a West Coast battle in this inaugural season of the WPS. And I was right. It was a strategy battle between two great teams and two great coaches.

On one side we had Marta, Aly Wagner and Aya Miyama that keep any defense on their toes at all times and Karina LeBlanc leading a back line that is still to be scored on; on the other side we had the most intelligent, skillful and technical midfield of the league with Formiga, Leslie Osborne and Tina DiMartino suppported by Nicole Barnhart in goal and Rachel Buehler commading the defense.

The only issue and that's what made the biggest difference yesterday at the Home Depot Center was that we had 11 chances to score a goal and we simply couldn't put the ball in, and our defense shut down down Marta about 20 times EXCEPT 1. And we lost the match.

A lot of positiveness can be taken as a lesson from this defeat but as I mentioned in my interviews with coach Albertin Montoya and with midfielder Leslie Osborne we need to start taking more mid and long disctance shots to open the other teams defenses so we can vary our offensive attemps and score more goals.

You can watch my video interviews with coach Albertin Montoya and with Leslie Osborne bellow and then read my player ratings and let me know what you think 

(the ratings only reflect a journalist/fan opinion. no players were harmed in the creation of the this blog post)

Nicole Barnhart: 9 -> There was nothing Nicole could have done to save that shot from Marta and besides that she was solid and perfect when needed.

Kandace Wilson: 7.5 -> Did a good job as a right wing. Explored the offensive side but sometimes went up too much and left a lot of space behind her back.

Leigh Ann Robinson: 6.5 -> Was saved a few times by the excellent coverage of Rachel Buehler therefore needs to be a little more precise in the passing and be more careful with the forwards running behind her back and making moves on her. Was subbed by Kristen Graczyk who played pretty much the same as Leigh Ann, also 6.5.

Rachel Buehler: 9.5 -> I can't give Buehler a 10 because we got scored on. It was not necessarily her fault but we did get scored on. Other than that A PERFECT MATCH by Buehler. Precise, fast and showed a lot of personalty on one-on-ones against Marta.

Carrie Dew: 8 -> Carrie was doing well until she picked up an injury and had to be replaced by Erika. The Brazilian played wearing a protectiveface maskand even though I like her style very much I have to confess that she had a lot to do with Marta's goal. Made a few bad passes too and unfortunately I believe she was the weakest link yesterday. 5 for her.

Leslie Osborne: 8.5 -> Not only because she's a good friend of mine but Leslie O. is proving game after game that she is 100% recoreved from her surgeries and that she's back stronger and better than ever. As team captain she's the voice of command in the midfield and is the one who touches the ball in almost every play; defensive or offensive.I couldn't give her a higher rating because I really expected that the three midfielders could've stepped up and taken some shots from outside the box. She agreed with me on that.

Formiga: 8 -> I feel that Formiga is still in her adapting process. She can do much more and I've seen her doing much more playing for Brazil. It will come with time, I'm sure.

Tina DiMartino: 7.5 -> I truly expected a little bit more from Tina. She was my favourite player on the UCLA's team last season and I've seen taking shots, delivering perfect passes, breaking down defenses. She's a firecracker. ButI didn't see that yesterday. The ball control was there, the running was there but she needs to take the shots.

Christine Sinclair: 7 -> She tried, tried, tried but was unable to get that one shot in; that one good ball that makes the difference.

Eriko Arakawa: 6.5 -> A Lot of running with the ball, too much time holding the ball and unfortunately Eriko was not very effective yesterday. 

Tiffany Weimer: 6 -> Not a good day for Tiffs. In the beginning of the match my hopes were really up because she started turning defenders in and out but soon it also became too much. She had the best opportunity in the first half but one extra move inside the box gave the Sol defense to catch up and block her attempt. 

Overall our offensive line needs to create more plays, move the ball more instead of trying to take it all the way in and HAVE MORE URGENCY IN TAKING THE SHOTS.

Pride Player Of The Match: RACHEL BUEHLER

We'll get them next time girls!